The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1887-09-29

IA When this STOW meltcih, there sha
., come . food" didn't care how mar
10 foods came.
n Add 50. with storm after storm, the wlu
| ter wore away. March bad come, bu
= without a sign Of the winters breaking
~ and then at last April loiteroi on. an'
!. April suns began 10 do their work; an'
II gradually the drifts OF snow in the lane
}. aud 10 the fields began to settle, and =
d lessen aud melt and disappear, Aud Bry
II an and Thomas had to talk Of the broodinI
hens and watch for the breaking mp oi ih'
I river, aud discuss the chances OF the early
' rye and the new calves and the hiring o
Z the spring hands; and it was all emptiness
+ And one day IL began 10 snow, and The
] snow turned to raia, and 1t raintd that
| day aud il rsined 10 rivers, and il rained
3 the next, and il rained till il had rained a
. week "a long. drcary week that bade lar
) TO end only 10 delnge. Aud on Saturday
the sun came out warm; and when look
ed, the crocuses bloomed under the win
dows. and Thomas said IL was very likely
the May flowers were blooming in the
woods. II any one could get at them, for
roads we're under water, although the river
was still locked 10 by solid ice from shore
TO shore And late in the afternoon OF the
second day Of this same sweet sunshine
and south wind, as We sat there, Jane and
|, Maria ran in aud said there was water
10 the cellar, as much as six inches
That is nothing" said / IL should
think there would be after snch melting
Of snow and such a raining of torrents
"Ii's more likely the land sucking mp
the river. mise said Maria, 'The river
is just raging full under its ice coat,
shouldn't wonder, and is letting itself out
through the land" And as she spoke there
came great shock and thrill, rnmtle, o
roar and mighty burst Of sound
Great mercy, missl' said Jane, "tbe
ice is cracking and rending from shore 10
shore never heard the like before many
springs as have lived beside it, and be
fore she bad done speaking the sound
came again the sound of great guns the
trembling Of aud earthquake.
ut is an earthquake, said /. ut mus'
be; but earthquakes up here don't amount
to anything
"Thats no earthquake" cried Jane.
Aud then we sat there an hour or more,
looking out on the river, and listening to
the sounds, and wondering, and telling
stories OF earthquakes and hardships and
what not, curdling our blood as we talked.
And at last Thomas came in; he had been
down the lane to the highway, and per-
son who had come from up country had
told him that the freshet was on the river,
and the high water had carried away
Ford's Mills, dozen miles above us.
But how can it do that?" said /. 'How
can there be freshet where its oll ice?"
Just because its oil ice, miss, replied
Thomas. "The streams are full up coun
try, aud the frozen river down here is Civ
ing the water no outlet. Half the country
between here and there will be anoat be-
fore morning" And then came the dull
roar aud rumble the shock, the thrill, the
explosion, once more.
'Wby, this Is terrible" said |. at
seems as il elemental things were at work
as il the earth was splitting and opening,
And while we waited and shivered, as one
after another OF the great explosions came,
the door opened SO quickly as to make us
start. and Mrs. Sawyer ran in her face as
white as ashes.
"a messenger has just gone galloping
by" she gasped. my husband met him. '
He says the dam at the falls has been car /
ried away, and the mayor Of Harborbar to a
look out for his bridges" q
And the explosions, said Bryan, join
ing US, for we were all looking out now, y
in the late twilight. at the long glass door I
opening on the river, above which pur- 5
pling mist hung. sis the Fallstown people Il
trying to break up the ice below them b
with dynamite. guess we are 10 for it. q
II don't know what we are going to do, L
cried Mrs Sawyer. "Of course the mo q
ment the ice breaks up and geos sweeping II
down it will make for the first outlet, and u
hat is on these low grass lands running u
n here on the very first low shore along
'ho whole course OF the river 1t is terri r'
'ying. II 1t were only daylight | wouldn't .
mind it 80 much We could see our way.
We could see what was coming We
should know where we we're and what to ),
10. But in the dark! You had better
'ome over to our house, Nan, and what !
ever We do we will all go together Mer
,iful powers! what is tbat?" :
1t was only the wind coming that
weet south wind. II had broken bougb :,
rom the old elm that had fallen on tine !,
louse, and ut the same moment the last
explosion OF the dynamite sounded But
was enough. Mrs. Sawyer's words were =,
ingibg in my ears. In the dark, all a. =,
nee, thought could see the torrents Of !.
ce, the great blocks and sheets OF pointed,
sgged ice, lifting themselves into on,
uge wall. and sweeping around the bend !,
nd up the land, pushed by the mighty /
yelling Of the tide behind mounting
rindine, sweeping across all this low in {,
erval over which it would crash and pour
nd flow to find the river at point below :,
nd reach the sea. The rush OF the great
lack cold waters was already upon me,
be sound OF them in my ears the blowing
I the vide, dark water breath. ] fell
lyself helpless stray before them. ca
ia not wait an instant never thought p'
4 the others. | was not conscious Of any 70
bought at all; but screamed and turned ba
nd dashed ou, Of the house and down the Ii,